Best Practices

• “Content is king” on social media! What you are sharing will be the biggest factor in your social media engagement
• Post consistently: set a goal of posting once a day or once a week
• Seek out alumni in your area that have social influence. Connect, nurture, and partner with them to help share your story
• Most importantly: be consistent, have fun, and keep at it!

Facebook Tips

• Leverage the GVSU Alumni Facebook page and website for content
• Posts should be visually appealing. Iconic photos and videos perform best
• Use the 80/20 Rule
  • 80% of the time, share content not asking your alumni to do anything
  • 20% of the time, promote events and volunteer opportunities
• Create official Facebook events for all your events and add GVSU Alumni Relations as a co-host
• Video performs better than static photos on Facebook
• Use your personal Facebook account to like and reshare network Facebook page posts

LinkedIn Tips

• Leverage the GVSU Alumni Relations LinkedIn page for content
• Focus content on professional updates such as new jobs, promotions, and awards
  • Invite alums to submit Laker Landings and/or Alumni in 5, then share on socials
  • Share updates and posts from network members
• Encourage alumni to network and share job postings
• Create official LinkedIn events for all your events and share with GVSU Alumni Relations to support promotion

Social Media Ideas

• Feature an alumni-owned business in your area. For ideas, search our Alumni Owned Business Directory
• Create a city guide for new alums moving to your area
• Alumni spotlight: Interview an alum. Share photos and quotes connected to their journey since graduating from GVSU
• Post nostalgic photos and memories from your time on campus
• Share about GVSU events: Move-In, Laker Family Weekend, Homecoming, Commencement, etc. and share University news of interest to your network
• Share about your network events, projects and activities
  • Record a short clip of yourself personally inviting alums to your event. Talk about why you’re involved and why they should attend
  • Post 2-3 reminders leading up to the event
  • After the event, post photos and/or short video clips as a recap
• Share alumni milestones: invite alums to submit Laker Landings and/or Alumni in 5, then share on socials
• Alumni Takeover: invite an alum to share about a day in their life
• Ask questions: post a trivia question about GVSU or your area

Social Media Metrics That Matter

• Increase engagement
  • Reactions, Likes, Mentions, Comments, and Shares
• Increase brand awareness
  • Measure follower growth rate over time
  • Are your impressions increasing consistently?

Assign someone to be the photographer

Make sure someone knows that it is their job to capture the event. Preferably this is not the lead organizer because when things are underway, it’s easy to forget to take photos or video. Delegating this task ensures that it will get done and frees up the organizer to pay attention to other needs. This is a great job for young alumni!

Check the lights and resolution

Before the event gets going, take a few photos and videos and give them a close look to see how they turn out. Take note if you might need to turn on your flash so photos are not blurry and grainy. It’s also good to make sure that your camera is set to capture at a high resolution. You can adjust this in the settings of the camera (or smartphone). A higher resolution gives you more flexibility later if you need to crop or edit.

Get a mix of shots

Try to get a variety of large-group shots and photos of smaller groups, candid photos, and staged shots. The variety will help give a sense of the event, vibe, and participants.

Avoid taking photos of people drinking or eating

It’s very difficult to make someone look good while they’re drinking or eating, so it’s best to avoid these awkward moments.

Make sure you can actually see the action

Don’t be shy! Getting close makes it easier to understand what’s going on in the photo.

Share with your group

Now that you’ve captured your event, don’t forget to share it! Post your photos on your network social media channels and tag (or use captions) to mention people in the photo. But be selective about what photos to use. Curating your photos helps underscore your message and makes it more likely that the audience will see them. 10 great photos are more impactful than 50 okay photos.

Share with GVSU Alumni Relations

We’re always interested in seeing what your network is up to and showcasing your work, so send us your photos and videos. We try to share or re-share photos from events whenever possible.